Bloomberg Wants To Legalize Livery Cab Pickups

01/18/2011 05:49 pm ET
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Updated
May 25, 2011

Mayor Bloomberg wants New Yorkers in the outer boroughs to be able to hail livery cabs legally.

Plenty of people already flag down black cars, but officially, that's not allowed. Passengers are only permitted to call car services to get picked up by livery cabs, they can't hail them on the street.

From the New York Post:

In his State of the City speech tomorrow, the mayor will urge the City Council to toss out the rules that say livery drivers can only pick up fares by pre-arrangement.

According to Taxi and Limousine Commission figures, 97.5 percent of yellow taxi trips originate in Manhattan or at the airports, leaving the 80 percent of the city's population who live in the outer boroughs to rely on illegal livery pickups.

"And why shouldn't someone in Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx or Staten Island be able to hail a legal cab on the street?" Bloomberg will ask in his speech.

"Whether you're standing on 42nd Street in Manhattan, or 452nd Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, or 42nd Street in Sunnyside, Queens, you ought to be able to hail a cab."